Public Act 095-0356
 		





HB1542 Enrolled
LRB095 07174 HLH 27305 b






    AN ACT concerning local government.

 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:

 
    Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended  by 
changing Section 10-2.1-17 as follows:
 



    (65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-17)  (from Ch. 24, par. 10-2.1-17)



    Sec. 10-2.1-17. Removal or discharge; investigation of 
charges;
retirement.  Except as hereinafter provided, no 
officer or member of the fire
or police department of any 
municipality subject to this Division 2.1 shall be
removed or 
discharged except for cause, upon written charges, and after an

opportunity to be heard in his own defense.
The hearing shall 
be as hereinafter provided, unless the employer and the
labor 
organization representing the person have negotiated an 
alternative or
supplemental form of due process based upon 
impartial arbitration as a term of
a collective bargaining 
agreement.  Such
In non-home rule units of government, such

bargaining shall be permissive rather than mandatory unless the 
parties mutually agree otherwise.  Any such alternative 
agreement shall be permissive.
such contract term
was 
negotiated by the employer and the labor organization prior to 
or at the
time of the effective date of this amendatory Act, in 
which case such
bargaining shall be considered mandatory.

    If the chief of the fire department or the chief of the 
police department or
both of them are appointed in the manner 
provided by ordinance, they may be
removed or discharged by the 
appointing authority.  In such case the appointing
authority 
shall file with the corporate authorities the reasons for such

removal or discharge, which removal or discharge shall not 
become effective
unless confirmed by a majority vote of the 
corporate authorities.  The board of
fire and police 
commissioners shall conduct a fair and impartial hearing of
the 
charges, to be commenced within 30 days of the filing thereof, 
which
hearing may be continued from time to time.  In case an 
officer or member
is found guilty, the board may discharge him, 
or may suspend him not
exceeding 30 days without pay.  The board 
may suspend any officer or
member pending the hearing with or 
without pay, but not to exceed 30
days.  If the Board of Fire 
and Police Commissioners determines that the
charges are not 
sustained, the officer or member shall be reimbursed for
all 
wages withheld, if any.  In the conduct of this hearing, each 
member
of the board shall have power to administer oaths and 
affirmations, and
the board shall have power to secure by its 
subpoena both the attendance
and testimony of witnesses and the 
production of books and papers
relevant to the hearing.

    The age for retirement of policemen or firemen in the 
service of any
municipality which adopts this Division 2.1 is 
65 years, unless the
Council or Board of Trustees shall by 
ordinance provide for an earlier
retirement age of not less 
than 60 years.

    The provisions of the Administrative Review Law, and all 
amendments and
modifications thereof, and the rules
adopted 
pursuant thereto, shall apply to and govern all proceedings for

the judicial review of final administrative decisions of the 
board of
fire and police commissioners hereunder.  The term 
"administrative
decision" is defined as in Section 3-101 of the 
Code of Civil Procedure.

    Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prevent the 
chief of
the fire department or the chief of the police 
department from
suspending without pay a member of his  
department for a period of not
more than 5 calendar days, but 
he  shall notify the board in writing of such
suspension.
The 
hearing shall be as hereinafter provided, unless the employer 
and the
labor organization representing the person have 
negotiated an alternative or
supplemental form of due process 
based upon impartial arbitration as a term of
a collective 
bargaining agreement.  Such
In non-home rule units of 
government, such
bargaining shall be permissive rather than

mandatory unless the parties mutually agree otherwise.  Any such 
alternative agreement shall be permissive.
such contract term

was negotiated by the employer and the labor organization prior 
to or at the
time of the effective date of this amendatory Act, 
in which case such
bargaining shall be considered mandatory.

    Any policeman or fireman so suspended may appeal to the 
board of fire and
police commissioners for a review of the 
suspension within 5 calendar days
after such suspension, and 
upon such appeal, the board may sustain the action
of the chief 
of the department, may reverse it with instructions that the 
man
receive his  pay for the period involved, or may suspend the 
officer for an
additional period of not more than 30 days or 
discharge him, depending upon
the facts presented.

(Source: P.A. 91-650, eff. 11-30-99.)


 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.